Employee Free Choice Act will level the playing field

Prior to and even after the inception of the Wagner Act [officially, the National Labor Relations Act] in 1935, employers (some, not all) imposed their will on their employees. They forced employees to accept diminished wages, health-care benefits, pensions and even unsafe working conditions (the basic needs).

The formation of unions in this country secured a middle class society. Unions were instrumental in making the United States a formidable superpower recognized throughout the world.

Around 1970, corporations began outsourcing more and more of our middle-class jobs (as well as the benefits that go with them). The unionized workforce began to diminish.

Unions built this country into what it was, powerful and proud. Greedy employers have managed to make this country what it is.

The Employee Free Choice Act merely attempts to level the playing field (finally) and give unions some of the same opportunities that employers have enjoyed for years. In its present form, the act may not be perfect -- reforms are needed. Nevertheless it needs to be law.

[The writer is a vice president of Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America.]